Known for traditional, handcrafted designs, techniques and fabrics, the Indian footwear market is slowly opening up to international streetwear and sneaker brands. German footwear brand adidas recently launched A+P Luna Rossa 21 range in collaboration with Prada that sold out on its launch day itself.

Local designers and retailers risk falling out of demand if they fail to broaden their scopes. As per a Vogue Business report, running shoes and branded shoes were the top searched items on Indian e-commerce portal Flipkart during the lockdown months of 2020.

Sale of higher-margin sports footwear to rise

As per the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India, the footwear market is predicted to grow to $15.5 billion by 2024. However, the sale of high-end trainers, like the coveted Nike Air Jordans, will remain restricted to a few boutiques like VegNonVeg and Superkicks.

Their sale is likely to be affected by heavy import duties and the presence of resale marketplaces like StockX, and independent resellers. Emerging sneakerhead culture is likely to further boost sales of higher margin sports footwear in India. To tap this growth, brands plan to collaborate with new stores besides cashing on their popularity in the media.

The popularity of trainer shoes in India can also be attributed to an exposure to different cultures through travel abroad and social media platforms, views Shivani Boruah, Marketing Manager, VegNonVeg, which opened in 2016 in New Delhi. Indian online shopping portal Ajio also launched a new section Sneakerhood on its platform featuring both international and Indian footwear brands.

Customers encompass all age and income groups

While sneakers are mostly favored by young, trend-driven customers, Indian customers are not limited to a single category. They vary across different age and income groups, explains Boruah. In India, sneakers were first sported by Bollywood actors Varun Dhawan and Ranbir Kapoor in 2016.

They became a fashion trend soon after with international brands like Yeezy launching their collections in the market, says Henry Vinoth, Founder of the blog Sneaker News.

Contemporary Indian labels like Huemn, Jaywalking, Gundi and Nought01 are also embracing the sneaker culture. For instance, designer Anamika Khanna, introduced a pair of trainer shoes in one of her 2016 collection. Online shopping portal Ajio also introduced its new vertical, Sneakerhood, on the official fashion week schedule for October. The portal features both international and Indian footwear brands, including special or limited-edition sneakers such as Nike Air Jordans, Fila Disruptors and Asics Gel-Noosa.

Indian brands are responding to the changing fashion landscape in the country with new initiatives. For instance, brand Jaywalking has announced plans to sell its shoes in high-end stores in New York, Tokyo and Singapore. The brand has gained immense support for its offerings on social media platforms.

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14th August 2021, Mumbai:

Ashwin Chandran, Chairman, The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) has appreciated Prime Minister, Narendra Modi; NirmalaSitharaman, Minister of Finance; PiyushGoyal, Minister of Commerce, Industry & Textiles and SmritiZubin Irani,former Union Minister of Textiles for removing the anti-dumping duty on viscose staple fibre.

Chandran has stated that unlike other manmade fibres, the viscose staple fibre produced by a single indigenous manufacturer was very expensive to the tune of Rs.20 per kg, though recently the domestic manufacturer has reduced the price to match with the international price to a certain extent. He has said that the deemed export price concept extended by the indigenous manufacturer greatly affected the powerloom and downstream sectors, as the industry is predominantly MSME and fragmented.

Chandran stated that the industry started facing shortage of viscose fibres as the supply was restricted to only around 200 spinning mills while the polyester fibre was made available freely across the segments. He stated that the viscose staple fibre was not made available for the MSME segment that greatly affected the powerloom and the MSME garment sectors. The removal of anti-dumping duty on VSF would greatly benefit the MSME segments, he said.

The Government has recently announced the Production Linked Incentive Scheme earmarking Rs.10,683 crores to attract large scale investments in the MMF value chain by identifying 42 HS Codes MMF apparels, 10 MMF Technical Textiles products and 14 MMF fabrics. Chandran stated that as majority of these products comprise of viscose and its blended textiles, the anti-dumping duty removal would facilitate to achieve the vision of creating 40 to 50 world champions in the MMF products.

TOP 5:

• SIMA hails removal of anti-dumping duty on Viscose Staple Fibre
• Government to extend validity of tax refund program for garment exporters
• KVIC bags Rs 10 crore order from ITBP
• ‘Pepe Jeans' has helmed some of the most ground breaking innovations: Manish Kapoor, CEO
• Malls in India record 80% sales rebound in June-July

To raise funds via a share sale, Go Fashion India owned womenswear brandGo Colors has filed Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DHRP) with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

As per an Indian Retailer report, thebrand proposes to utilize Rs 33.73 crore from proceeds towards funding the rollout of 120 new exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) in India during the fiscal year 2023. As of May 2021, the company had 450 EBOs located across 115 cities.

It also proposes to utilize Rs 61.40 crore to fund working capital requirements. As of June 2021, its total sanctioned limit of working capital facilities stood at Rs 65 crore, including fund-based and non-fund-based sub-limits.

The initial public offering (IPO) comprises a fresh issue of Rs 125 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 12.88 million shares by its existing shareholders and promoters.

Founded in 2010 by VinodSaraogi and PrakashSaraogi, Go Fashion India is among the largest women’s bottom-wear brands in India, with a market share of approximately 8 per cent. It is engaged in the development, design, sourcing, marketing, and retailing of a range of women’s bottom-wear products under the brand, ‘Go Colors'.

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For over 29 years Mufti has redefined menswear in India. The brand set up in 1992, was initially named ‘Mr Mister’ after the American rock brand of the same name and their hit single ‘Broken Wings.’ Later the name was changed to Mufti, to denote non-uniform wear. Kamal Khushlani, Founding Director, traces the brand’s journey, its offerings and future initiatives.

Trace your brand’s journey since inception.

Since opening our first store in 2008, we slowly expanded our retail footprint to 100 exclusive brand outlets across India by 2010. Together, these stores generated a turnover of over Rs 100 crore, which doubled by 2012. In 2017 we launched our own footwear line.

Elaborate on your product range.

From stretch jeans, introduced in 1999 to knitted stretch ‘Denim Deluxe’, we offer the best in comfort, style and patrons. Our offerings have constantly set new benchmarks for competitors. From shirts to T-shirts to jeans to outerwear, we offer complete wardrobe solutions, be it through our vintage and military inspired Authentic Casual range or the everyday Relaxed Casual range, the everyday city inspired Urban Casual range, or the sporty and ever-comfortable Athleisure line.

What is your retail footprint?

Embodying the spirit of Mumbai, Mufti symbolizes its intrinsic ‘work in progress’ nature. The brand makes a conscious effort to build, reflect and reconstruct itself like the city. Our stores incorporate elements that are unique to Mumbai’s Architectural, social and cultural identity tetrapods placed along the city’s coastline, manholes covering roads, digital stickers on railway station or ceiling fans installed in local trains. Our trial rooms are inspired by the lifts used at construction sites that further reinforce the ‘WIP’ concept.

What are your latest offerings?

Our passion for fragrances has led to the launch of a new perfumes range known as f Eau de Parfums. Named after iconic parts of Mumbai, this range weaves Mumbai’s undying spirit into its badges or prints. Through this range, we aim to deliver Mumbai’s global and contemporary flavor.

14th August 2021, Mumbai:

The Indian Government has decided to extend the validity of a key tax refund program for garments and made-up exporters by over three years up to March 2024. As per Financial Express, this will ease liquidity flow to the critical labor-intensive sector in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The government will retain the extant refund rates under the Rebate of State and Central Taxes & Levies (RoSCTL) scheme for some more time. At present, garment exporters get scrips up to about 6 per cent of the freight-on-board value of the products and made-up exporters are entitled to a maximum of 8.2 per cent. The notification ends uncertainties over the continuation of tax refunds and will prop up garment exports that have lost pace of late.

A mechanism for reviewing the rates periodically will be devised by the ministries of finance and textiles.

With this, the government also scrapped its earlier plan to replace the RoSCTL with the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP), which is expected to be operationalized soon.

TOP 5:

• SIMA hails removal of anti-dumping duty on Viscose Staple Fibre
• Government to extend validity of tax refund program for garment exporters
• KVIC bags Rs 10 crore order from ITBP
• ‘Pepe Jeans' has helmed some of the most ground breaking innovations: Manish Kapoor, CEO
• Malls in India record 80% sales rebound in June-July

12th August 2021, Mumbai:

The Supreme Court has directed Amazon.com Inc and Flipkart to face antitrust investigations ordered against them in India.

The investigations were ordered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) ordered the investigation against the companies last year for allegedly promoting select sellers on their e-commerce platforms and using business practices that stifle competition.

The companies deny any wrongdoing and mounted legal challenges in lower courts and at the Supreme Court against the investigation, saying the CCI did not have enough evidence to pursue the matter.

The decision is a major setback for both companies as the Supreme Court appeal was seen as the last legal recourse to block the CCI pressing on with its investigation.

In the current antitrust case, filed by trader group Delhi VyaparMahasangh, the two companies face allegations of exclusive launches of mobile phones, promotion of select sellers on their websites and deep discounting practices that drive out competition.

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• Bata India Q1FY22 revenues to grow 92.5%
• Government taking measures to address concerns of small traders: Piyush Goyal

The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) is setting up 10 more design resource centers to help the handloom sector. These are being set up at weavers' service centres in Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kannur, Indore, Nagpur, Meerut, Bhagalpur and Panipat.

They would enable weavers, exporters, manufacturers and designers to access design repositories for sample/product improvisation and development.

NIFT has already established such centers at the weavers' service centers in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati, Jaipur and Varanasi. Each of these centers has accumulated a large number of designs and sample over the years.

Set up in 1986, NIFT is the pioneering institute of fashion education in the country and has been in the vanguard of providing professional human resource to the textile and apparel industry.

It was made a statutory institute in 2006 by an Act of the Indian Parliament with the President of India as ‘Visitor’ and has full fledged campuses all across the country.

Over the years NIFT has also been working as a knowledge service provider to the Union and State governments in the area of design development and positioning of handlooms and handicrafts.

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14th August 2021, Mumbai:

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has bagged an order to supply 1.91 lakh Khadi Cotton durries worth Rs 10 crore to Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is the nodal agency for procuring provisions on behalf of all paramilitary forces in the country. The fresh order comes following an agreement signed between KVIC and ITBP for supplying durrieson January 6, this year.

KVIC will provide blue-colour durries of 1.98 meter length and 1.07 meter width. The cotton durries will be produced by Khadi institutions of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab. An estimated 1.75 lakh man days of additional work for the Khadi artisans will be created by this purchase order alone. This is for the first time KVIC is supplying durries to the paramilitary forces.

Out of the 1.91 lakh durries, 51,000 will be supplied to ITBP; 59,500 to BSF; 42,700 to CISF and 37,700 to SSB. The order will be supplied by November this year.

TOP 5:

• SIMA hails removal of anti-dumping duty on Viscose Staple Fibre
• Government to extend validity of tax refund program for garment exporters
• KVIC bags Rs 10 crore order from ITBP
• ‘Pepe Jeans' has helmed some of the most ground breaking innovations: Manish Kapoor, CEO
• Malls in India record 80% sales rebound in June-July

12th August 2021, Mumbai:

For Q1 FY22, India’s leading value fashion retailer, V-Mart Retail reported a 49 per cent decline in revenues to Rs182 crore compared to Rs356 crore in Q4FY21. The company’s EBITDA loss was reduced by Rs 3.8 crore to Rs 2.0 crore quarter on quarter, Q1FY22 compared to Rs 1.5 crore in Q4FY21. The quarter was affected by the unprecedented second COVID-19 wave resulting in lockdowns in almost all cities where the company has operations, leading to a loss of 51 per cent operating days.

The company’s stores in the eastern regions performed relatively better due to availability of a higher number of operational days, while stores in UP continued to outscore other geographies reflecting the inherent strength of the company in India’s largest populated state.

V-Mart’s EBITDA and PAT for the quarter stood at -Rs2.0 crore and –Rs 28.7 crore respectively underscoring the disproportionate negative impact of COVID-19, as most of the company’s costs remain fixed and the store operations resumed as and when local permissions allowed operations, thereby ruling out any large scale cost reductions for extended periods, unlike last year.

Footfalls at the company’s stores during the quarter increased 115 per cent while the Average Selling Price for fashion increased by 19 per cent and the Average Bill Size also increased by 3 per cent, YoY. The company continues to maintain comfortable liquidity while actively working on new store expansion, online retail, digital transformation and also supply chain infrastructure development.

TOP 5:

• Supreme Court directs Amazon India & Flipkart to face antitrust investigations
• ‘V-Mart Retail’ reports 49% decline in Q1 FY22 revenues
• Myntra 'Right to Fashion Sale' on Independence Day
• Bata India Q1FY22 revenues to grow 92.5%
• Government taking measures to address concerns of small traders: Piyush Goyal